Rick Perry, Herman Cain Spar Over Abortion
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(Nati Harnik/AP Photo)
ABC News’ Arlette Saenz and Susan Archer report:
DES MOINES, Iowa — Abortion dominated the speeches tonight when six of the Republican candidates flocked to Iowa to tout their credentials to a crowd of more than a thousand social conservatives, a group whose support will be pivotal to winning the first caucus state this January.
While the candidates sold themselves to the social conservatives of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, they focused on stressing their commitment to anti-abortion rights initiatives.
“Pro-life is not a matter of campaign convenience, it is a core conviction,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the crowd as he listed the anti-abortion rights legislation he signed into law in the state of Texas.
Perry, who has fallen in the polls as Herman Cain has experienced a meteoric rise, was quick to pounce on the former Godfathers Pizza CEO for a comment earlier this week that was taken as supportive of abortion rights.
“It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life but government should stay out of that decision,” Perry said, without naming Cain. “If that is your view, you are not pro-life, you are pro having your cake and eating it too. We respect life, we respect life as a gift of God and what God has created, we should always work to protect.”
Cain fought back, telling the press Perry is resorting to tactics to discredit him.
“That is not true. He obviously did not take a look at the statement that I issued to clarify, I am pro-life. I have said it I don’t know how many times,” Cain said. “That is an attempt to try and discredit me.”
Cain launched a firestorm Wednesday evening when he suggested the government should not be involved in decisions on abortion.
“It’s not the government’s role or anybody’s role to make that decision,” Cain said Wednesday in an interview on CNN.
Cain attempted to stem the criticism today by simply explaining his position against abortion.
“Life from conception, no abortions, no exceptions,” Cain said.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., expressed her commitment to implementing anti-abortion rights legislation, telling the crowd this is the year social conservatives “can have it all.”
“I support a constitutional amendment to define life from conception until natural death, and I would support all pro-life language that comes across my desk,” Bachmann said.
Bachmann, who once was a favorite in Iowa circles and was born and raised in the state, also went after Cain, but on a different topic — his suggestion that the United States should consider releasing terrorists from Guantanamo in exchange for American soldiers held hostage by al Qaeda.
“I would never consider negotiating and releasing the hostages of the Guantanamo Bay in a hostage release. That is something we cannot do,” she said. ” We had the mastermind of the 9-1-1 disaster and tragedy Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who is in Guantanamo Bay. We would never consider negotiating those terrorists, committed terrorists, for American in a hostage situation.”
Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, shared an emotional story of his newborn son’s death, which occurred as he was working to pass a partial-birth abortion ban in Congress.
“You want to know why I’m pro-life? God showed me if you are faithful, he will be faithful,” Santorum told the crowd, who fell silent as the former senator shared his personal family story.
Santorum also knocked Cain for the abortion comments, saying they are “right out of the pro-choice playbook.”
“I just can’t conceive [that] coming out of someone who says that they’re pro-life,” Santorum said. “It just would never come out of my mouth. It would never come out of anybody who has an understanding of what the pro-life movement is about and so I understand he’s backtracked, but it’s not the first time he’s said it.”
He said Cain’s political inexperience may be showing, and suggested that Cain himself might not know where he stands on a variety of issues in his “first real run for office and a serious campaign.”
“I think he’s still finding his way through,” Santorum said. “This is a pretty big and important race to be finding your way through issues, particularly on issues of this fundamental importance.”
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, discussed his monetary policy positions, even pointing to passages from the Bible about gold.
Drawing the biggest standing ovation of the night, Newt Gingrich charmed the crowd, telling them he’d end all of the White House czars, defund Planned Parenthood and lead Republicans to victory over President Obama in 2012.
“We can have a dramatically better Christmas in 2012 if it’s a goodbye Obama Christmas,” Gingrich said. “If you want a great Christmas, vote against Obama.”
Evangelical Christians lifted Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, and each of the six candidates speaking before the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition are hoping to lure those voters to their campaigns for a similar outcome.
Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney were the lone candidates to not attend the Iowa event. Romney spent the day campaigning in New Hampshire.
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How can someone claim to be for “small government” and yet say the choice should be made by the government rather than the woman and her doctor?
Posted by: Gabe | October 22, 2011, 10:53 pm 10:53 pm
Cain is right. Abortion is not the government’s business. Stop treading on us.
Posted by: Jeff | October 22, 2011, 10:53 pm 10:53 pm
You’ve got the “flat earth society” conservatives making judgment on the pathetic GOP candidates. Cain makes a sausage pizza and calls it a chicken pizza day one day and a lean beef pizza another day–as he speaks about his changing views on abortion. He’s like a random number generator–what he says changes every day. And you have Perry who barely got through high school and has a hard time reasoning. And then you have the other keystone cops–Bachmann, the Newt, Paul, etc. –who are dumber than rocks. It’s like a comedy routine but the brain dead evangelies don’t get it. They will when these clowns are defeated next year and Obama takes over for another 4 years!
Posted by: usa8888 | October 22, 2011, 11:12 pm 11:12 pm
I am tired of the sparing. Perry takes cheap shots. Cain is a great person, but Romney has our vote. He has the best chance to win over all demographics. He has business and government experience and success. He certainly knows all the ramifications of health care…both state and federally mandated. Now, let me say, that I am sure others disagree with me, I would appreciate it if you could keep your ranting reply clean. I have heard some pretty nasty and uncivil reply’s. May the best person win!!
Posted by: Connie Davis | October 22, 2011, 11:12 pm 11:12 pm
How can Perry say he’s pro-life and be the top executioner governor in the US? He’s executed innocent people.
Posted by: susan | October 22, 2011, 11:13 pm 11:13 pm
Cain’s original view on abortion seemed logical and reasonable to me.
The problem lies with the deep rooted hypocrisy of the Republican Party. Republicans think life begins at conception but ends at birth. They scream all day at the top of their lungs claiming to care about “life”, but when one looks at the record, it’s all baloney.
Where were the right wing Christian when we killed 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians in our two trillion dollar tax payer funded invasion?
Jesus cared for the poor; but not modern right-wing Christians.
I challenge any right wing so called Christian to have a real philosophical conversation about when “life” begins.
Really though, the issue of abortion is simply a tool Republicans use to get votes, getting people all fired up butting into other people’s personal lives, just like with the gay marriage thing. Republicans in general are just bad for our country.
Posted by: ApostasyUSA | October 22, 2011, 11:17 pm 11:17 pm
How about a real ‘spar’ winner takes all. I’d like to see Herman rip that squirrel toupee off a Ricky’s empty head!!
Posted by: Reality | October 22, 2011, 11:24 pm 11:24 pm
I have heard some pretty nasty and uncivil reply’s. May the best person win!!
POSTED BY: CONNIE DAVIS | **************If this is the best the GOP have,
then they are destined to fail miserably.
Posted by: michael | October 22, 2011, 11:29 pm 11:29 pm
Small gov’t to the GOP means small enough to fit in your bedroom.
Posted by: Chris | October 22, 2011, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm
The government has a legitimate role in protecting the lives of innocent unborn children.
The unborn is not “part of the mother’s body” since it has a unique DNA structure that doesnt match hers. The unborn child is clearly a unique human individual apart from her.
And there is a huge difference between protecting the life of an innocent child and whether capital punishment should apply to a criminal who has been found guilty of a heinous crime.
Do liberals understand the difference between innocence and guilt?
I’m not sure that they do, because every time the prolife discussion starts, they always bring up capital punishment as if they are discovering some inconsistency.
Posted by: Joe White | October 23, 2011, 12:08 am 12:08 am
If Cain says IT’S the woman/family’s CHOICE WHETHER TO keep the baby ALIVE OR NOT, so CAIN IS PRO-CHOICE. That is the definition of pro-choice. Cain is pro-choice. It’s as simple as that. A good politician is one who promotes law that defends life. If Cain does not care to promote/defend the innocent because he’s leaving it up to the woman/family to make that choice, then he is not defending the innocent human being in the womb. So Cain will want to leave ABORTION LEGAL in our land. Cain’s fellow Republicans are trying hard to abolish Roe v Wage, and Cain is saying THE WOMAN/FAMILY HAS THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE. CHOOSE WHAT? Why couldn’t finish the sentence. CHOOSE WHAT? to terminate the baby? Remember Pontius Pilate, that prototype politician who says I am pro-life, but will not defend the life of the baby in the womb, because it the the woman’s choice. CAIN IS SAYING THE WOMAN/FAMILY HAS THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE If Cain believes life begins at conception, then he believes there is a human being in the womb. BUT HE IS NOT WILLING TO DEFEND THAT HUMAN BEING IN THE WOMB BECAUSE, CAIN SAID, THE WOMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE!!! THAT IS A PRO-CHOICE STANCE, Hello! Mr. Cain! PONTIUS PILATE SAID: I find no fault in this man (meaning Jesus). I wash my hands. Pontius Pilate believed Jesus was innocent, but although Pilate was the leader of the land, he did not defend Jesus, but LET THE PEOPLE CHOOSE. So what did the people CHOOSE? They said: Crucify Him! So these weak-kneed politicians who say I personally BELIEVE life begins at conception, but will not impose my belief to defend that baby’s LIFE, is PRO-CHOICE . It’s like saying , I know ABORTION IS EVIL , but it’s THE MOTHER’S CHOICE to commit that evil against the baby. It’s like saying, I know that’s a baby in the womb, but I will not defend that baby; it’s up to the family/mother if they want that baby terminated. Ergo, CAIN IS NOT A DEFENDER OF LIFE. HE’S PRO-CHOICE.
Posted by: mdvd | October 23, 2011, 12:11 am 12:11 am
As usual..the country is in meltdown, and these Republicans, just as their Senate counterparts won’t discuss any possible solution, they would rather debate how they can force their religious standards on every one else. These people bash big government, yet want it in your bedroom…whine constantly about personal responsibility then do their best to take away rights of those who they don’t agree with. I am a Christian, and I know hurting the poor, judging people and forcing your beliefs are not what Christianity is about. I don’t know who these people think they represent, but many conservatives I know are repulsed by them.
Posted by: D | October 23, 2011, 12:37 am 12:37 am
This is a joke. If you have followed Cain at all you’d know he is definately pro life. His statements have been greatly misinterpreted. Cain is under fire like no one before.
The establishment republicans and democrats will do everything in their power to discredit Cain.
He is a threat to their way of life. His ideas take power from the government and give it to the people. These politicians are terrified they will lose their lobbyists and special interests!
Don’t buy into this media slave mess of BS…..
Come on people! Think for your self for once!
Posted by: IHartAmerica | October 23, 2011, 2:15 am 2:15 am
How it is it the religious right is for freedom EXCEPT when it comes to individuals?
Posted by: dan | October 23, 2011, 2:49 am 2:49 am
If you want to live in a country ruled by religion, move to Iran.
Posted by: dan | October 23, 2011, 2:53 am 2:53 am
Joe White — Get your own life and stay out of others. Period, end of story.
Posted by: dan | October 23, 2011, 2:57 am 2:57 am
Regarding the so-called contradiction among conservatives who are both for “small government” as well as pro-life; yes, we DO want to minimize government intrusion into our lives. However, we don’t want that to mean that the government abandon its legitimate role to guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for ALL citizens, regardless of age, location or stage of development. The mother of an unborn, living, human child and her doctor do not have the right to deprive her unborn child of his or her civil rights. We are against government’s intrusion into our lives, but also against laws that allow one person from depriving another PERSON of his or her life, liberty or pursuit of happiness.
Posted by: PaxEtCaritas | October 23, 2011, 5:33 am 5:33 am
@Paxetcaritas: You are being presumptuous; and your analysis is incorrect. This is how an anti-choice agenda is a government intrusion. The government is deciding when life begin and that
has NOT been defined by anyone, NOR should it be defined by your religion. Until such time as there is a definition of when life begins, THAT is the choice that is left up to the woman, NOT to you.
What you have done, in your deceitful recasting of the argument is to frame it as an issue of Government vs. Life. In reality, it is Government vs definition of life. And for now, the US Supreme court (do you not respect them) has come down squarely on the side of life beginning in a late trimester.
So the question remains: how can the tea baggers claim minimal government when they advocate a government that decides when life begins? A decision that is NOT the government’s to make.
Posted by: tom | October 23, 2011, 6:04 am 6:04 am
Just what America needs – a bunch of MEN and one clueless female debating something they have no business debating. NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE, has a right, especially the United States Government, telling a woman what to do with her body.
Also to all those who have NO CLUE, including all those bible thumping bigots, getting an abortion does NOT mean using the procedure as birth control. It is an agonIzing decision to make. IF you feel that no matter what the circumstances, the woman should give birth, THEN YOU COME AND ADOPT THE BABY AND TAKE CARE OF IT!!!
IT IS NO ONE’S BUSINESS, INCLUDING A BUNCH OF MIDDLE AGED MEN, BIBLE THUMPING WOMEN WHO ARE BIGOTS, WHAT A WOMAN DOES WITH HER BODY. iT IS BETWEEN THE WOMAN AND GOD.
Posted by: Chloe | October 23, 2011, 6:28 am 6:28 am
Say it again Chloe!
Posted by: tom | October 23, 2011, 6:30 am 6:30 am
“I support a constitutional amendment to define life from conception until natural death…” Bachmann said.
Interesting definition. I thought death meant the end of life, but apparently it’s only natural death that does that. How is it that life continues after an unnatural death?
Posted by: John Prowse | October 23, 2011, 7:09 am 7:09 am
Amen, Chloe!
The religious kooks are only interested in protecting a life until that life is born. Amazingly, then they lose interest. That unborn life now becomes a burden they shouldn’t have to pay for.
Posted by: auntiedancer | October 23, 2011, 7:36 am 7:36 am
“And there is a huge difference between protecting the life of an innocent child and whether capital punishment should apply to a criminal who has been found guilty of a heinous crime.
Do liberals understand the difference between innocence and guilt?” ————————Yes, we understand. Do you? The right is only interested in protecting lives THEY think are worth protecting — until those lives become too much of a burden, that is.
I do not believe in abortion, but I would never dream of telling someone have to feel the same as I do. As for the death penalty, I’m thankful that I don’t live in a state that allows such barbaric punishment. If I did, I would not participate in ending someone’s life, even the most heinous criminal, no matter how much I might think he/she deserved it. Neither is my decision, or the government’s, to make.
Posted by: auntiedancer | October 23, 2011, 7:57 am 7:57 am
I think Texas having the 2nd largest population in the US has a lot to do with some of it’s statistics. Not to mention it has one of the youngest states also. Ask anyone who actually lives here about quality of life, cost of living, etc.. and they will speak favorably about their home state.
There is a reason why residents of TX DO NOT move out of their state. The same reason so many people move here from all over the country. Perry is the only sensible choice… Like him or not..
Posted by: nancy | October 23, 2011, 7:58 am 7:58 am
What a bunch of GOP clowns. Constantly complaining about the economy and their main topic of conversation is ABORTION?!! And all the “Christians” on here prattling about the innocent unborn and thinking that they have the ultimate definition of when life begins. You folks are pathetic. So closed minded, living in some religious la-la land, with a God who loves what you love and hates what you hate, feeling that those who don’t agree with you aren’t “true” Americans, Christians, or any other label you like to toss about. And, of course, defending these @$$wipe politicians who preach freedom and liberty….except when it comes to issues they want to control, in the name of some God who they feel “called” them to this crusade. It’s no wonder this country is in the shape its in. To you, it’s my way or the highway. The GOP and its supporters are more of a danger to this country than any abortion, tax increase, or no prayer in the public school will ever be.
Posted by: RyanC | October 23, 2011, 8:01 am 8:01 am
How can someone claim to be for “small government” and yet say the choice should be made by the government rather than the woman and her doctor?
Posted by: Gabe | October 22, 2011, 10:53 pm.
That’s easy. They are a huge, stinking pile of hypocrites……..
What they MEAN is, they are for ‘small government and less governmental intrusion’ into CORPORATE lives. (Remember, corporations are people, too). When it comes to actual human beings and OUR lives, they fully support MORE government regulation and MORE intrusion into our lives. Going straight into our bedrooms and straight into a woman’s uterus.
In fact, the smartest thing a woman could do is to incorporate her uterus. Make it a legal corporate entity and the Republicans will fall all over themselves to get out of the way and let ‘Uterus, Inc.’ do anything and everything it wants to……….
Posted by: Searambler | October 23, 2011, 9:04 am 9:04 am
Why do Republicans hate women so much?
Posted by: Searambler | October 23, 2011, 9:05 am 9:05 am
Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, shared an emotional story of his newborn son’s death, which occurred as he was working to pass a partial-birth abortion ban in Congress. “You want to know why I’m pro-life? God showed me if you are faithful, he will be faithful”.
Yet you DON’T condemn your god for taking your newborn baby from you? Doesn’t your god ‘work in mysterious ways’? Maybe your god was telling YOU not to support that bill you were working on – ever consider that? No, of course you wouldn’t. And how on earth does losing a newborn child show you that your god is being faithful?!?!? I swear, religious nut jobs can spin ANYTHING into some sort of weird affirmation that their faith is not misplaced, misguided, or flat out wrong…….
Posted by: Searambler | October 23, 2011, 9:11 am 9:11 am
“I support a constitutional amendment to define life from conception until natural death, and I would support all pro-life language that comes across my desk,” Bachmann said.
So to recap, she wants to outlaw abortion, outlaw most forms of birth control, and of course (because she’s a Republican), eliminate most of the social programs that help many of our poor and middle class people survive. It’s official: she wants to lead this nation straight back to the Dark Ages. Thank god she will never, ever occupy the White House……………
Posted by: Searambler | October 23, 2011, 9:17 am 9:17 am
That Huntsman and Romney were the only ones who didn’t show up to that dog and pony show pretty much proves that they’re the only GOP candidates with a shred of sense or self-respect.
Posted by: PDXmum | October 23, 2011, 11:13 am 11:13 am
I’d boycott any candidate who showed up for that “Faith and Freedom” event. What a bunch of narrow-minded, arrogant hypocrites, and what a totally irrelevant stage for a would-be POTUS. Please, give us someone who can lead this country into a better economy, more jobs, and higher standing in our world. Enough with the moronic arguments about social issues that are none of their business.
Posted by: bubba | October 23, 2011, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm
Read a biology text book.
The unborn is not “part of the woman’s body.”
The unborn has a DNA structure that does not match the mother’s.
It’s the baby’s body that is killed during an abortion, not a part of the mother’s body.
It doesnt matter what religion you are, if you can understand biology, then you’ll know that the unborn is a unique human individual.
The unborn has her own heartbeat, her own brain waves…….hello? Biology 101, anyone?
Posted by: Joe White | October 24, 2011, 1:38 am 1:38 am